U.S. Border Patrol agents are "the most assaulted law enforcement personnel in the country," the agency's new chief told a congressional committee Tuesday.
Mark Morgan made the startling assertion during testimony to a House Homeland Security subcommittee, calling the figure one most people "don't often talk about."
"You know, the numbers we often hear associated with the United States Border Patrol are the numbers of annual apprehensions of those attempting to illegally enter the country every year: It's hundreds of thousands," he said.
But, he said, "I've learned that the United States Border Patrol agents are among the most assaulted law enforcement personnel in the country."
Morgan said there have been 7,542 assaults against agents since 2006, and 30 agents have died in the line of duty since 2003.
Audio of the comments were posted by the Washington Examiner and CNS News.
During the testimony, Morgan also credited his agency with rescuing thousands of illegal immigrants from life-threatening crises on the border, sometimes at great danger to themselves.
"What we're being asked to do right now, I think you could phrase it a little bit, is a humanitarian mission," Morgan said, describing an incident in which a 6-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother from Honduras had been smuggled to the border.
"I think there needs to be discussion, and I'm asking questions," he continued.
"What are some alternatives that we could do instead of taking agents that have been trained, that have a national security mission, that should be on the front line? I'm taking them off that front line a lot to process a 6-year-old and an 11-year-old as part of the humanitarian mission."
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